Close-up of the world's largest aircraft used to launch satellites

The Hughes H-4 Hercules, one of the only aircrafts to fly in 1947 , remains the record for the world's longest wingship. However, this record will soon be surpassed by Roc. It has wingspan up to 117m.

Compare the wingspan of Roc aircraft with other aircraft

For easy visualization, look at the picture below. Hughes H-4 wingspan is 97.5m, less than 20m to Roc. The largest passenger aircraft in the world, the Airbus A380, has a wingspan of less than 70% of the Roc. The weight of this giant machine is more than 1.2 million pounds, or more than 544 tonnes.

If you come here you still can not imagine the size of the aircraft, look at the actual picture of its assembly process in Mojave, California. The points that are red in the photos are the ones who are working, and they look so tiny compared to the 72 meter fuselage.

Roc's main task would be to launch the launch rockets at a height of 10km, then launch the satellite. Using airplanes and launching missiles from the air will save more fuel than launching missiles from the ground. Roc uses six engines used in the Boeing 747, and can carry satellites weighing more than 6 tons.

Roc's information has appeared since last year, but this is the first time we have seen its actual image. Roc is a project co-founded by Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder and Gary Wentz, who was a key engineer at NASA's space station in Alabama.

Video introduces Roc's activities

It was not until next year that Roc's test flights were conducted. As planned, the first flight of this aircraft will be made in 2018.